Williams draws support from readers for DA spot

Ron Moore has served as District Attorney twenty-four years. Buncombe County deserves a change.

There is no better example of this than the 2011 findings of the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission that Moore wrongfully convicted Robert Wilcoxson and Kenneth Kagonyera of murder by withholding DNA evidence that tended to prove the boys' innocence and by defying a direct court order to disclose that information.

Since then these defendants have been released from prison. One has been paid $545,591 in reparation for ten years wrongful imprisonment.

There has been no public outcry for sanctions against Moore for violating his oath of office through these wrongful prosecutions or for failures to prosecute the guilty parties. Instead, we have allowed Mr. Moore to quietly serve out the balance of his sixth term.

We now have an opportunity to elect a man who will represent the integrity, energy, and legal ability that Buncombe County should demand. I am endorsing Attorney Todd Williams as our next District Attorney. The May 6 primary will determine the next District Attorney. The winner is unopposed in the general election. Justice has not been served. Now is the time.

Earl J. Fowler, Jr.

North Carolina born and bred Todd Williams is running for Buncombe County District Attorney and deserves our vote. Williams has nearly 15 years of experience as a defense attorney and has served as an assistant capital defender and assistant public defender for nine years in Buncombe County. The current District Attorney has occupied this office for the past 24 years and some fresh ways of doing business and professionalism wouldn't hurt.

Leslee Thornton, Asheville

Buncombe County has needed a new District Attorney for a long, long time. Now we have a great candidate, Todd Williams, who is ready and willing to step into that office. My specific discontent with incumbent Ron Moore goes back to 2002 when he decided to shield Sheriff Bobby Lee Medford from prosecution for criminal misprision. While federal investigators finally put Medford in prison in 2008, Moore never bothered to charge the corrupt lawman for numerous crimes fully documented by the State Bureau of Investigation. (Six years later the Asheville Police Department has yet to receive an account of the 327 weapons missing from Medford's evidence locker.) A full list of Moore's injustices would fill this page and any long-term resident knows someone whose life has been bruised by our incumbent D.A. I'm pleased to join former Chief Judge Earl Fowler and former Associate Justice Harry Martin in their endorsements of Williams. I hope you'll join me in voting for Todd Williams on May 6.

Cecil Bothwell, Asheville

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Williams draws support from readers for DA spot

Ron Moore has served as District Attorney twenty-four years. Buncombe County deserves a change.